Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program Community Needs and Readiness Assessment Guidance and Implementation Plan Guidance

As part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117-328). Section 511 of Title V of the Social Security Act authorizes the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to Indian tribes (or a consortium of Indian tribes), tribal organizations, or urban Indian organizations to conduct an early childhood home visiting program. The legislation sets aside 6 percent of the total Maternal, Infant, Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) appropriation for grants to tribal entities and requires that the tribal grants, to the greatest extent practicable, be consistent with the requirements of the MIECHV grants to states and territories and include conducting a needs assessment and establishing benchmarks. The goals of the Tribal MIECHV program are to support healthy, happy, successful American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children and families through a coordinated, high-quality, evidence-based home visiting program, and to continue to build the evidence base for home visiting in tribal communities. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the agencies collaborating to implement the MIECHV program within HHS, also intend for the program to result in a coordinated system of early childhood home visiting in tribal communities that has the capacity to provide infrastructure and supports to assure high-quality, evidence-based practice. The Tribal Home Visiting discretionary grants support cooperative agreements to conduct community needs assessments; plan for and implement high-quality, evidence-based home visiting programs in at-risk tribal communities; establish, measure, and report on progress toward meeting performance measures in six legislatively mandated benchmark areas; and participate in rigorous evaluation activities to build the knowledge base on home visiting among AI/AN populations. The ACF Office of Early Childhood Development (ECD) developed the Tribal MIECHV Implementation Plan (IP) Guidance and the Community Needs Readiness Assessment (CNRA) guidance to assist grant recipients in developing their home visiting programs and meet the requirements of their cooperative agreements. This request includes proposed revisions that were identified to streamline the reporting process, eliminate unnecessary items, and clarify the requests.

The latest form for Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program Community Needs and Readiness Assessment Guidance and Implementation Plan Guidance expires 2028-07-31 and can be found here.

Tribal MIECHV Community Needs & Readiness Assessment Guidance

Federal Enterprise Architecture: Community and Social Services - Social Services